


Has The Cat Got Your Tongue?

by LapisLazuli13



Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: And other cute animals, Cats, Cute, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, M/M, Newt works at a shelter, Sassy Minho, Teresa loves cats, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, a lot of cats
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2019-09-16 07:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16949670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LapisLazuli13/pseuds/LapisLazuli13
Summary: “I was just picking up a cat for my friend but the boy works at that shelter is gorgeous and adorable so I keep coming back and now I have like four rescue cats and two dogs already but I still don’t know how to ask him out.”“You’re turning into a cat dude, Minho,” Thomas whistled teasingly.“Cat dude?” The Asian boy raised one eyebrow, looking unimpressed.Thomas made a vague hand gesture, still grinning widely, “Cat dude, you know, the male equivalent of cat lady?”“That still sounds too dumb even with your level of stupidity.”





	1. The boy at that shelter

#  **Has The Cat Got Your Tongue?**

**_“I was just picking up a cat for my friend but the boy works at that shelter is gorgeous and adorable so I keep coming back and now I have like four rescue cats and two dogs already but I still don’t know how to ask him out.”_ **

…

##  **_1, The boy at that shelter._ **

…

“So let me get this straight,” Minho inhaled deeply before looking straight into his best friend’s eyes sternly. “You are asking me to go to a shelter at the other side of the city to pick up a cat for _your sister_?”

“I already explain the reasons why I can’t!” Thomas threw both his arms up in a half-defensive, half-exasperated manner, “And besides, it’s not _that_ far!”

Minho rolled his eyes, “It’s not that far to you because you live in the middle of this city! And you can always switch the appointment to another day, you know? It’s a visit to a shelter, not a business meeting.”

Thomas grumbled, “That’s not the point! Haven’t I already told you I’m allergic to animals’ fur?!”

“If that’s the case, why didn’t you choose another gift for Teresa?” Minho clicked his tongue annoyedly.

“But she loves cats! And I already promised to give her one if she could ace her P.E class this semester. I didn’t think she could actually do it, I know she hates running as much as I hate the cold!”

“That’s your cue to never underestimate your sibling again,” the Asian smirked like he was enjoying his friend’s misfortunate, but then the smugging expression changed into a scowl, “so why do I need to help you?”

“Since when you’re not my best friend? That’s what friends are for!”

“It wasn’t written in best friends’ privileges list,” Minho raised an eyebrow, “and I’m sure we’re not best friends now, Thomas.”

“No, that’s in the rights and responsibilities list,” Thomas let out an exasperated sigh, “and man, why do you need to be that difficult? What could I get for you then, Minho?”

“It took like forever for you to know how to negotiate,” the Asian chuckled with amusement, “How about a month of free coffee every morning at the shop near our college?”

“You’re a beast,” Thomas’ eyes widened comically. “How can you still be alive with all the caffeine in your system?”

“Because as you said, I’m a beast,” Minho shrugged nonchalantly, “So that’s my condition. Do we have a deal or not?”

“Well I agree,” Thomas said begrudgingly. Minho smirked, he knew his best friend had alternative choices, but he always turned to Minho whenever he needed help. And man, Thomas was such an easy target to manipulative a little bit. “When will you drive to that shelter and do the job? I need a cat in, two more days at most. Teresa doesn’t stop bothering me until she could see her cat.”

“Look what you’ve got yourself into,” Minho shook his head, checking the calendar in his phone. “Lucky you, I don’t have any schedule tomorrow. Your cat will be ready at 8 P.M. if that works for you.”

“Great!” Thomas exclaimed cheerfully. He took out a small note and grabbed Minho’s pen to scribble an address in. “That’s the shelter. They have like the best service in this whole city, and they rescue a lot of animals every day. Teresa talks about it whenever I mention the cat to her.”

“Ok,” Minho took the note, frowning slightly at the almost illegible string of doodles in front of his eyes. “Thomas, I swear if I get lost because I misread the information you gave me here, I will strangle you right at the next moment I see you.”

“You talk like you haven’t seen my handwriting before,” Thomas chuckled, seeming totally unaffected by Minho’s threat.

“One day your ugly handwriting will grow fangs and bite you in the ass at the most unexpected moment.” Minho groaned, shoving the note into his shirt’s pocket. “Now excuse me, but you need to get out of my house. My mom’s coming over and…”

He only needed to say those words because they both knew Thomas was quite afraid of Minho’s mom’s mother-hen behaviour whenever she saw the boys. Minho said _you would eventually get used to it_ , but man Thomas didn’t want to get used to it. The mere thought was terrifying to him so no thanks.

“See ya!” Thomas yelled, still looking quite too cheerful when he walked out of the door. Minho shook his head at his best friend but he was smiling. Well, driving would make the long distance not be that far, besides, he had a month of free coffee since tomorrow so it’s worth it.

***

“Do you see my other shoe, mom?!” Minho yelled from the living room when he’s struggling to tie his left shoelace.

“The blue one or the red one?” His mother yelled back, her voice echoed from the kitchen, mixing with the noise from her cooking.

“Whichever is fine,” the Asian didn’t care that much about mismatched shoes or not, really. They both fit his feet comfortably so what’s wrong with wearing shoes from different pairs together? It’s not like everybody would take a look at his shoes more than one second anyway.

“Honey, they’re both dirty…” His mom started, and Minho was her son for his entire life to know where would the conversation go.

“Mom, it’s okay, I found it!” He took off his current shoe and searched for another pair that wasn’t his best comfy ones, but it could save his time hearing to his mom’s lecture so it’s still the better choice, comparing to not wearing any shoe at all. “I gotta go, see you later mom!”

And Minho rushed out of his house after grabbing his car’s key, ready for a trip to the shelter that Thomas asked him to.

…

It took Minho two hours driving with the minimum stopping time whenever he met a red light, and it’s not too long after all. Still, Minho contemplated making Thomas pay his coffee for one more week because the shelter was so big and he wondered how much time he would spend inside here to find a perfect pet for Teresa.

Well, sue him when he’s quite an animal lover. But Thomas mustn’t know that, because it’s a secret.

Minho locked his car and walked to the main door. It was an automatic door and Minho smiled appreciatively when he stepped in and saw how clean the place was. There was no sign of mud, dirt or animal droppings. There was no funny smell either, the place had a pleasant scent from some sachets of sweet flower odors or burning incense. A large number of cages were placed neatly, each one had at least one animal inside. They all looked quite calm and relaxed, which was a good sign to tell that the employees here had good hands to take care of all of them.

“Good afternoon. What could we help you, sir?”

A velvety voice snapped Minho out of his train of thoughts. He looked around to find the direction of the voice, and when his eyes landed on a blond boy with the shelter’s uniform and a welcoming smile, he suddenly forgot how to breathe for a mere second.

_Holy shit angels were real!_

Well, okay, that sounded a little bit too exaggerated. And it’s not like the boy had wings or halo on his head or anything, but his warm, heavenly smile was the only thing Minho could focus on at the moment that thought appeared in his head.

“I need a cat,” was his intelligent reply by instinct. Well, at least his brain can function quite normally enough, so Minho didn’t complain. He of course didn’t want this angelic boy look at him like he’s an idiot.

“Which types of breed do you want?” The boy asked, gesturing at Minto to follow him. “We put all our cats there, but for some who need special treatments, they’re in the next room. And for kittens, they’re on the 2nd floor.”

“I actually don’t know,” Minho scratched the back of his head, and when the boy turned around to look at him with a surprised expression, he shrugged. “Look, I’m not looking for a cat for myself. A friend asked me to find a cat for his siblings since he can’t come here without having a serious allergic reaction to animals’ fur.”

“Oh, poor him,” the boy shook his head, his smile faded for a mere second before he tilted his head a little bit to the right, “Does his sibling have any special request for their cat?”

“I don’t think so, Thomas didn’t say anything except that he needed a cat for Teresa, and that’s all information I’ve got,” the Asian replied, still staring at the other’s head. Those golden curls looked really soft and his fingers were itching to touch them, to feel the wonderful softness gently brush against his skin. “Do you have any suggestion?”

“Well, we have a wide range of cat breeds here,” the boy cheerfully answered, a hint of proud and joy underneath his tone. “You can take a walk and see if you want any of them. They’re all tamed and none has any diseases or strange illnesses. We checked each one before putting them on those display spots.”

“What’s wrong with that hairless one?” Minho pointed at a cat without any hair. “Is he bald?”

“No, he’s a Sphynx cat,” the boy laughed when he saw the cat Minho’s pointing at, “They’re born that way, hairless and sensitive skin. They will need a lot of care because they don’t have their nature coat to cover their weak spots or to keep them warm during the cold weather.”

“Sounds like a lot of work, I doubt that Teresa will appreciate it,” Minho laughed, even though for a second he thought this cat might be a suitable option for Thomas, just in case his best friend wanted to have one for himself. “Hmm, I remember that one time Thomas mentioned that she like dogs too, and big animals in general. Any big cats here?”

“You might want to meet some Maine Coons,” the boy nodded, leading the way to another aisle. “They’re the biggest domestic cat in the world, with the nickname “the gentle giant”. Especially good with children, friendly and easy to train. One small downside is they have quite too much hair, so combing them on a daily basis and occasionally trimming their fur will be necessary.”

Minho whistled when he saw the first Maine Coon. It was so big and it looked wonderful – beautiful coat covered its entire body, big and captivating eyes, straight upward ears and a very, very fluffy tail. He’s sure Teresa would love that cat. Minho actually liked the cat himself too.

“I want to take a closer look,” he gestured at the cage of that Maine Coon and the boy nodded, walking to the spot. He opened the gate and gently took the cat out.

“Here you are, sir,” the blond grinned when he handled the cat to Minho. The Asian was quite awkward at first, but hey, holding a big cat was easier than he thought. And the cat seemed calm, it didn’t protest at all when Minho turned it around in his arms, looking all over its body.

“I think I want this one,” Minho said with a satisfied tone.

“Are you sure you don’t want to see any other option?” The boy asked, and Minho shook his head.

“I kinda want to, but I need to be back in three hours and my house’s at the other side of the city.”

“I understand,” the boy smiled at Minho again and the Asian mentally slapped himself for almost dropping his jaw to stare at the boy like an idiot. “Hey, easy there, you’re the chosen one today,” he joked with the cat before putting it back to the cage. “We shall go to the cashier, sir. We will provide all the documents related, and you can choose two bags of cat food as a gift for the first time you purchase here.”

“Sounds like a good offer,” Minho grinned, walking after the boy to the counter. He didn’t have anything particular in mind so he just asked which types of cat food were the most common and he picked two of them.

“Uhm, sir, could you give me a name? I need to put some information in this form,” the boy asked, looking straight into Minho’s eyes and smiled.

Minho lost his breath for a second when the angelic smile directed at him, mentally hit his head with a baseball bat once, contemplating to give Teresa’s info but then he remembered he didn’t know anything about her besides her name and Thomas wouldn’t come to the shelter even if he put his name under the “owner” box, so finally he sighed, “Minho. I’m not the owner, but if you need anything, just contact me.”

“Sure,” the boy nodded, and Minho took a quick glance at the form he’s filling. The blond had curvy handwriting, and they sure looked way better than Thomas’. Minho actually wanted to say everything about him was better than Thomas but that’s kinda against the best friends’ codes so he opted to not think about that.

“There, all done,” the boy finished his last letter, putting the pen aside before handling it to Minho. “Please check the information and if I made any mistake, please tell me to correct it.”

“They’re alright,” Minho skimmed the page before giving it back to the boy. “Do I need to do anything else?”

“No, we’re finished here,” the boy shook his head, giving the cat a fond smile before handling the cage to Minho. “Please take good care of him, he’s a good boy.”

“I couldn’t make a promise myself, but I’m sure that Teresa will do that.” Minho smiled at the boy, feeling a little bit regretful that he couldn’t see his smile in the next ten minutes. He wanted to take out his phone and get some pictures of the blond, but he didn’t know how to ask for that without sounding awkward or like a creepy stalker.

So two hours later, Thomas yelled in happiness and giving Minho a bro hug with another request _(“Could you please give the cat to Teresa for me?” – “Another week of free coffee.” – “Deal.”)_ before he came back to his home, leaving Minho with a Maine Coon and a strange empty feeling inside his chest.

He really, really wanted to see the boy again, but he just didn’t know how would he do it.

***


	2. Minho’s second visit to the shelter.

##  _**2, Minho’s second visit to the shelter.** _

…

Teresa screamed in a very high-pitched tone when she saw the cat, “OH MY GOD OH MY GOD HE’S SO PRETTY _OHMYGODDD_ – _!!!_ ”

Minho almost dropped the cage in an attempt to cover his ears tightly by both of his hands. “For god’s sake, Teresa, could you please tone down your voice? My eardrums hurt. And by the way, how do you know this cat’s a he?”

The girl blinked, “Thomas sent me the papers before. Wait, you don’t know? Even though these papers have _your name_ on them? You didn’t read them at all?”

Minho silently cursed. He did read, but all he could focus on was how elegant the boy’s handwriting was, so most of the other information was lost somewhere in his brain. Not that he cared enough to remember them either, he wasn’t the owner of the cat anyway. But it’s not like he could say that out loud as a reason because let’s be honest here, that’s quite embarrassing to admit in front of a girl that you barely know. And she’s also your best friend’s sibling, so it’s even a bigger no.

“I guess I didn’t pay it much attention since the cat isn’t mine after all,” the Asian boy shrugged nonchalantly. “Hey, your cat comes with two packs of cat food. I don’t know which kind of food he would like so I took two from a popular brand.”

“Thank you so much!” Teresa nodded at him while she extended one arm to take the cat’s cage. “Hey, if you don’t mind, please come in for a bit. I will open the cage when he’s inside to make sure he won’t run away, he isn’t used to this new place. Could you take the food you mentioned before?”

“Sure, but let me carry the cage for you. Here, take those bags instead.”

Minho smiled at the girl and give her two packs of cat food. Teresa didn’t protest, she grabbed both the packs then walked to the front door and opened it.

“You don’t need to take off your shoes, I haven’t cleaned the floor today,” the girl waved a hand dismissively. “Hmm, let me see, where should I put him…?”

“It doesn’t look like you could keep him in a cage forever,” Minho said when he noticed the lack of cat’s furniture in Teresa’s house. It’s the first time she got a cat, right? An inexperienced owner. “Have you bought any bed or cat tree for your cat?”

The look on Teresa’s face and her surprised gasp said it all: no, she hadn’t.

“Oh god, I totally forgot about that!” Teresa brought one hand to her mouth, her widened eyes seemed quite distressed. “What should I do now? I want to go get some stuff right now, but I couldn’t leave my cat alone! Besides, I don’t really know where to buy pet’s furniture…”

Honestly, if she was Thomas, Minho would’ve laughed his ass off right now because of that careless nature. But he’s still a gentleman, after all, so he said in lieu. “If you don’t mind, I could give both you and your cat a ride to the shelter which he comes from. It’s not that far from your house, and I’m free today.”

“Really?!” Teresa’s eyes were bright and shining with excitement, a big smile appeared on her face. “That would be wonderful! Are you sure it won’t be a problem for you? You’re not allergic like Thomas, right?”

“Teresa, I drove with your cat next to me at least two times and I’m still perfectly fine,” Minho laughed. “I’m not your idiotic cousin, who promised to give his sibling a pet but forgot that he has animal fur’s allergy.”

That earned a chuckle from the girl. “Alright, so shall we go back to your car?”

“Take your time to lock the door, I’ll go first,” Minho told her before carrying the cat’s cage back to his car.

Teresa sat down on the back seat three minutes later and asked Minho to give her the cage he put on passenger’s seat. “Thank you so much, Minho!”

“Don’t mention it,” the Asian boy nodded, fastening his belt. “It’s about thirty minutes driving. Take your time to think about what you want to buy.”

“Okay.” The girl nodded, and they fell into a comfortable silence during the next half hour.

…

Minho’s heart beat a little bit faster when he saw the angelic boy that day was the one who greeted them. “Good morning. How could we help you today?”

“I, uhm, my friend here just got a Maine Coon, but she hasn’t bought any furniture or toys for her cat, so we come here looking for some,” Minho made the most charming smile he could maintain (or at least he hoped so) at the boy.

The cute blond boy glanced at the cage in Minho’s arm, then he smiled back at the Asian with an even more elegant smile. “Oh, I remember you now. You came two days ago looking for a cat for your friend, right?”

“Yeah, that was me,” Minho grinned triumphantly. He was impressive enough to be remembered, and that could count as a victory. “Anyway, do you have any recommendation for furniture and toys for this cat?”

“Ah, right,” the boy giggled and honestly, Minho’d never heard any sound more adorable than that. “How are you doin’, buddy?” He crouched down, waving a hand in front of the cat before standing up straight. “I suggest you should bring him upstairs, we have a wide variety of cat’s supplies on the 2nd floor. You can let him play with our samples to know which kind of toys he prefers, too.”

“That sounds great,” Teresa smiled excitedly. “May I go first? Minho, can you carry the cage for me?”

“Sure, go ahead,” the Asian boy nodded, and the girl almost sprinted off. Now he could see why could she ace her P.E. class, even though Thomas said she hated running. The girl had such an athletic figure. “Hey, you will come with us, right?”

“Of course,” the blond worker replied, his tone was gentler when he continued to talk with the cat. “Hey, it’s only two days but I have to admit that I miss you, buddy. Do you like your new owner?”

“Honestly this is the first time Teresa saw her cat, so I’m not sure about the answer for that question,” Minho shrugged, and when the blond looked up at him, he added with a grin. “But I guess he likes me though. I took care of him for today and he’s a good boy. Stayed quiet in his cage, didn’t make weird noises, and he seems like he enjoys me caressing his fur.”

“Maine Coon is one of the friendliest cat breeds,” the blond boy nodded appreciatively. “They’re easy to satisfy even with the most simple choice of toys, so you shouldn’t have a hard time to choose something for him. Oh, here we are,” he gestured at the half-opened door of a room with a _‘Cat’s furniture & toys’_ sign. “It seems like your friend’s already inside. I wonder if she finds anything interesting.”

“Since that’s Teresa, I think she did,” Minho smiled in response. “Don’t tell her this, but sometimes I perceive her as a big domestic cat. Lazy most of the time but occasionally being quite energetic.”

“That sounds cute,” the blond commented, and Minho shrugged, feeling a little bit of jealousy nagged inside his chest. _That’s just a polite statement, don’t overthink it_ , he thought to himself.

“Teresa, have you found anything yet?” Minho asked when he stepped quicker, sitting down next to the girl who was in the middle of a battle of choices. Around her were at least ten different toys with various shades of colors and shapes. Minho’s actually quite impressed at how many things she could pick up in such a short amount of time.

“I’m having a hard decision here,” Teresa replied, her eyes didn’t leave the stuff in front of her. “I don’t know which one to choose.”

“Why don’t you let your cat test them?” The blond suggested, fidgetting with the lock of the Maine Coon’s cage. “Hey, big boy, let’s get out and play a little bit.”

The cat walked out when the cage opened, all in its fluffy glory. Teresa whistled a catchy song, waving a pink fake bone in front of the cat.

Minho resisted the urge to face-palm. “Teresa, I think you know that’s a dog toy.”

“But what if he likes this?” The girl protested. “I don’t know anything about him, maybe he’s secretly a dog inside.”

The Asian decided to not argue with her logic. The blond chuckled lightly at that, and honestly that sounded like music to Minho’s ears.

However, the cat ignored the bone and walked to a round plate, seeming mildly interested when he tentatively extended his front leg and gave it a try.

“He chose the Bergan Turbo Scratcher,” the worker informed them the name of that toy. “Quite a wise decision, I might say.”

“What’s exactly that?” Minho didn’t really care, honestly, but hearing the other’s voice had a soothing effect on him, and he liked it.

“That’s a round plate. In this plate, there is a channel for a small ball. The ball can move around the plate, but the cat can’t get the ball out,” the boy explained, his eyes were shining with adoration when he looked at the cat. “This means that your Maine Coon will continuously try to get the ball out while the ball is moving faster and faster whenever he tries to get it. The ball can be stopped, but, again, it can’t be taken out. So it’s like an infinite loop for a cat to play.”

“I’ll buy it,” Teresa quickly decided when she realized how much her cat liked the toy. “Hey, do you think he’s willing to try anything else? He seems quite immersed with the toy now.”

“When the new thing’s interesting enough,” the blond smiled while shuffling inside a big box. “Wait a moment, I think I have something else for him here. What do you think about a prosper pet cat tunnel, buddy?”

After ten minutes of making loud noises and trying to get the Maine Coon distracted, he finally decided to look at the new toy that was offering to him. The cat just stood there and didn’t seem like he wanted to move at all, but when the blond worker put some tuna at the end of one tunnel, the cat immediately ran to it.

And it turned out that he liked the tunnel as well.

“I think two toys would be a good number already,” the blond commented while watching the cat. “Anything else you want to buy? Bed, cat tree, something similar?”

“I’ll take a look at beds. The cat tree can wait,” Teresa thought for a moment before she replied.

“Sure. Please follow me, I will lead you to the pets’ furniture room.”

 

It took Teresa half an hour to finally make a decision of which bed she wanted for her cat. Minho rolled his eyes like eight hundred times during the progress, she just fell into the paradox of choices so many times. At least the blond was way more patient than Minho was, because he’s sure he would just laugh in Teresa’s face and her intense scowl during the time she tried to choose a bed. And got fired immediately after that.

“Is that your final decision?” The blond asked gently and the girl nodded with a satisfied smile. “Alright, I will pack all your purchased stuff together for you, alright? Could you sign some papers while waiting for me to finish it?”

Teresa shrugged when the worker gave her a pen and some blank papers to fill her information in. “Hey, do I need to change the information on the form of adoption for my cat? The one with Minho’s personal info?”

“It’s not necessary unless you require some other certificate for breeding or transporting him cross-border,” the blond shook his head, explaining carefully. “It’s quite complicated, you need to change both the recorded data in our data bank, too.”

“Hmm, so let’s ignore that,” Teresa scowled a little bit. She didn’t want to deal with anything that’s complicated, hey, she got quite a day already. “There’s no need for making things more complex than it is.”

“You’re right,” the blond smiled at her. “I’m done. Shall we go to the counter now? Or do you want to take a look at anything else?”

“I guess I’m done for today,” the girl shook her head, patting her cat’s head. “Hey, big buddy, let’s get back to your cage. We’ll go home soon and you can play with your new toys at home.”

The cat meowed as a response.

“So, all done. Have a good day, you two.” The blond worker smiled at Minho and Teresa when he helped them bring their stuff to Minho’s car.

“Thank you so much for putting up with us today,” the Asian extended one hand, hoping for a handshake with his angel.

“It’s nothing, that’s my job after all.” The blond gently nodded while shaking his customer’s hand. “Thank you for coming. Please give us good reviews on our fan page, would you?”

“Oh, definitely.” Both Minho and Teresa laughed before climbing into the car.

…

“So, what’s up between you and that blond worker?”

Minho cursed when Teresa looked at him with a mischievous smile dancing on her lips. At least she had enough tact to not voice her opinion out loud when they’re still at the store so Minho would give her one more brownie point, comparing to his obnoxious best friend.

“Nothing.” He shrugged nonchalantly and hoped that his voice was as disinterest as he thought.

“Nothing ~ And every second you looked at him made me feel like I was watching one of the biggest, most hopeless growing crushes ever.”

Damn Teresa and her inhuman sixth sense. “That’s untrue.”

“Don’t lie straight to my face, Minho.”

“That’s really none of your business.”

“Well, it’s not like I could help you directly anyway,” the girl decided to drop the topic when she realized how uncomfortable Minho was. “But call me if you need some love advice, will you? Consider it as my own kind of payment for your help today.”

“… I’ll think about that. Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

…


End file.
